Beater-brush roller for vacuum cleaner



Dec. 28, 1965 DALEY ETAL 3,225,374

BEATER-BRUSH ROLLER FOR VACUUM CLEANER Filed Aug. 26, 1965 INVENTORS Horace S. Daley Ronald R. Thompson WITNESS l9 mmgt. Fig.l 3 WZ EQJ 1 United States Patent 3,225,374 BEATER-BRUSH ROLLER FOR VACUUM CLEANER Horace S. Daley, Clifton, and Ronald R. Thompson, Pluckemin, N.J., assignors to The Singer Company, Elizabeth, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Aug. 26, 1963, Ser. No. 304,532 3 Claims. (Cl. 183) This invention relates to vacuum cleaners and more specifically to a combination beater-brush roller designed to be rotatably mounted in the nozzle or mouth of a vacuum cleaner and driven in a conventional manner by a belt connected to the motor which drives the fan of the vacuum cleaner.

The use of a beater-brush roller in the nozzle of a vacuum cleaner is not new; however, many beater-brush rollers heretofore used have not been entirely satisfactory in that they have often been expensive to manufacture, or if not expensive, have been fragile and therefore not entirely dependable. Thus, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved beaterbrush roller which will be inexpensive to manufacture and at the same time, rugged and serviceable.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved beater-brush roller having beaters and brushes which can easily be removed and replaced and if desirable, interchanged.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved beater-brush roller having facilities for easily balancing the structure thereof.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved beater-brush roller having interchangeable heaters and brushes so arranged that all of the heaters can be removed and replaced by brushes, or all of the brushes can be removed and replaced by heaters, thereby making it possible to provide either an all brush roller or an all beater roller.

Another object of the invention is to provide a unitary wooden or plastic beater-brush roller member having spiral or helical grooves so positioned as to prevent concentration of stresses in any one given plane.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment of the invention, from which the sev eral features of the invention and the advantages attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a beater-brush roller embodying the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, exploded, perspective view il- 'lustrating one end of the beater-brush roller shown in FIGS. 13.

As best shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, the beater-brush roller 16 embodying the present invention comprises a cylindrical non-metallic preferably wooden or plastic unitary body or member 17 having a concentric central bore 18, adjacent to one end, an annular groove 19, and at both ends an annular end cut 21, and a concentric countersink 22. The member 17 is also provided with two spaced apart helical under cut grooves or slots 23 and 24 which extend the complete length of the member 17 and are cut directly into the member 17. The slots 23 and 24 are identical and each has a base 26 and two outwardly convergent side walls 27 and 28 forming a radially open mouth.

The external diameters of the end cuts 21 are less than the external diameter of the main body of the member 17. Also the internal diameters of the countersinks 22 are less than the external diameters of the end cuts 21. Also the internal diameter of the central bore 18 is less than the internal diameter of the countersinks 22. The axial depths of the end cuts 21 are less than the axial depths of the countersinks 22.

The helical slots 23 and 24 are identical and spiral in the same direction so that any portions of the two slots equidistantly located from the end of the member 17 are spaced degrees apart. One end of the slot 23 is equipped with a plastic brush insert 33 having a plurality of bristles 32 spaced there along and the insert 33 may he slid endwise into this slot. The other end of the slot 23 is equipped with a V-shaped metallic beater-bar insert 34. In like manner, one end of the slot 24 is equipped with a plastic brush insert 33 and the other end of slot 24 is equipped with a V-shaped beater-bar insert 34 and as shown in FIG. 1, the inserts 33 and 34 are staggered so that both a brush insert and a beater-bar insert are used at both ends of the roller 16.

Because the slots 23 and 24 are identical, the brush insert 33 and the beater-bar insert 34 may be interchanged. Also two brush inserts 33 may at the same time be used in the slot 23 or in slot 24. Also two beater-bar inserts 34 may at the same time be used in the slots 23 or in the slot 24. Also two beater-bar inserts 34 may at the same time be used in slot 23 or in slot 24. It will be noted that the external longitudinal Walls of the two inserts 33 and 34 converge upwardly in the same manner as the side walls 27 and 28 and thus the inserts 33 and 34 are firmly held in the slots 23 and 24.

If a comparatively lightweight brush insert 33 is installed in one end of the groove 23 and a comparatively heavy beater-bar insert 34 is installed in the same end of the groove 24, it is desirable to balance the roller 16 by inserting a metallic balancing strip 36 in the inner portion of the groove 23 between the bottom of the insert 33 and the base 26 of the slot 23. Precise balancing of the roller 16 can be obtained by using a longer or shorter strip 36 as may be needed to produce proper balance.

As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, the annular groove 19 accommodates a band 37 having very short inturned ends which clip into the mouth 29 of the slot 23. It will also be noted that the plastic brush insert 33 has a smooth face 38 without bristles 32. The band 37 and the face 38 provide a track on which a belt (not shown) may run in order to rotate the roller 16 in the well known manner. Also the beater-bar insert 34 has a smooth surface 39 similar to the smooth surface 38. Because the roller 16 is to be driven by a single belt (not shown) the groove 19, the band 37 and the smooth surfaces 38 and 39 may be eliminated from one end of the brush. Or if desired, the pulley engaging track may be located at a position midway between the two ends of the roller 16.

A metallic cylindrical shaft 41 extends longitudinally through the bore 18 and both ends of the shaft 41 have a reduced partly threaded end 42 and a bearing abutment 43. Both ends of the member 17 are fitted with a cup shaped bearing retainer 44 and each retainer 44 is formed with a cylindrical wall 46 and an intumed flange 47 for receiving the outer race 48 of an anti-friction bearing, the external surface of the wall 46 being received into the countersink 22. The retainer 44 also has an outturned flange 49 and an external cylindrical wall 51. The flange 49 is formed with two inturned rotation restraining lugs 52 and 53 and these lugs are so located that the lug 53 engages the wall 27 of the slot 23 and the lug 52 engages the Wall 28 of the slot 24: The inner race 54 of the anti-friction hearing engages an unthreaded portion of the reduced end 42 and the abutment 43. The threaded portion of the reduced end 421 enters a threaded nut 56 which may be formed integral with a circular flange 57 of a cup 58 and the external circumference of the flange 57 carries an inturned flange 59 which fits over the wall 51. A cylindrical felt washer 61 is interposed between the nut 56 and the flange 49 and the wall 46, the flange 49" and the outer race 48. A resilient plastic orrubber end cap 62 fits over the external surface of the cup 58 and in order to do this, the cap 62 is formed with a center bore 63, and a cylindrical recess 64. The external shape of the cap 62 is rectangular except for four notches 66' cut out of the four corners of the rectangle. The two caps 62 are designed to be received into two recesses formed in the mouth (not shown) of a vacuum cleaner (not shown).

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention,- what we claim herein is:

1'. A beater-brush roller for use in the mouth of a vacuum cleaner, said roller comprisinga unitary cylindrical member having a pair of spaced-apart longitudinally extending identical undercut helical slots eaoh having outwardly convergent sidewalls, said slots being formed directly in said unitary cylindrical member and extending for a major portion of the length thereof; a balancing strip freely insertable endwise into one of said slots and held in the inner portion of said slot by said outwardly convergent sidewalls; a beater insert installed in the other of said slots; and a brush insert installed in the slot with said balancing strip.

2. A beater-brush roller for use in the mouth of vacuum cleaner, said roller comprising a unitary cylindrical member having a pair of spaced-apart longitudinally extending identical undercut helical slots each having outwardly convergent sidewalls, said slots being formed directly in said unitary cylindrical member and extending for a major portion of the length thereof; a

balancing strip freely insertable endwise into one end of one of said slots and held in the inner portion of said slot by said outwardly convergent sidewalls; a second balancing strip freely insertable endwise into the opposite end of the other of said slots and held in the inner portion of said slot by said outwardly convergent sidewalls; a heater insert installed in the ends of the slots Opposite the ends in which the balancing strips are installed; and a brushinsert installed in the ends of the slots in which the balancing strips are installed.

3. A beater-brush roller for use in the mouth of a vacuum cleaner, said roller comprising a unitary cylindrical member having a pair of spaced-apart longitudinally extending identical undercut helical slots each having outwardly convergent sidewalls, said slots being formed directly in said unitary cylindrical member and extending for a major portion of the length thereof; a balancing strip freely insertable endwise into one of said slots and held in the inner portion of said slot by said outwardly convergent sidewalls; a beater insert installed in the other of said slots, said heater insert comprising a sheet metal member folded to form a V having two side walls that mate with the side walls of said slot and thus secure the beater insert in said undercut slot with the point of the V extending beyond the external surface of the cylindrical member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,045,270 6/1936 Hoover 15-183 2,268,429 12/ 1941 Shank 15366 2,271,545 2/1942 Cummings 155 2,512,544 6/1950 Hammell 15--366 XR 2,533,169 12/1950 MacFarland 15183 2,578,549 12/1951 Hooban 15366 XR 2,712,669 7/1955 Frere et al. 15183 XR 2,734,211 2/1956 Vance 15l83 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,187,233 3/ 1959 France.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. 

1. A BEATER-BRUSH ROLLER FOR USE IN THE MOUTH OF A VACUUM CLEANER, SAID ROLLER COMPRISING A UNITARY CYLINDRICAL MEMBER HAVING A PAIR OF SPACED-APART LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING IDENTICAL UNDERCUT HELICAL SLOTS EACH HAVING OUTWARDLY CONVERGENT SIDEWALLS, SAID SLOTS BEING FORMED DIRECTLY IN SAID UNITARY CYLINDRICAL MEMBER AND EXTENDING FOR A MAJOR PORTION OF THE LENGTH THEREOF; A BALANCING STRIP FREELY INSERTABLE ENDWISE INTO ONE OF SAID SLOTS AND HELD IN THE INNER PORTION OF SAID SLOT BY SAID OUTWARDLY CONVERGENT SIDEWALLS; A BEATER INSERT INSTALLED IN THE OTHER OF SAID SLOTS; AND A BRUSH INSERT INSTALLED IN THE SLOT WITH SAID BALANCING STRIP. 